Home

Search

Collections

Journals

About

Contact us

My IOPscience

Space science 2001: some problems with artificial gravity

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text.
2001 Phys. Educ. 36 193
(http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/36/3/303)
View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more

Download details:
IP Address: 128.103.149.52
This content was downloaded on 30/09/2014 at 20:24

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

SPECIAL FEATURE: SPACE PHYSICS 2001

www.iop.org/Journals/pe

Space science 2001: some

problems with artificial gravity
Nick Fisher
Head of Science, Rugby School, UK

Abstract
Many pupils will be familiar with the ideas in 2001: A Space Odyssey but
few will have considered the physics involved. Simple calculations show
that some of the effects depicted in the Space Station and on the Discovery
are plausible but others would be impractical.

Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke released the

science fiction story 2001: A Space Odyssey as
both a film and a book in 1968 [1]. The most
expensive (10.5 million) film of its time, 2001 is
still regarded as a work of art and scientific vision.
Generations have grown up inspired by the images
of the future suggested in the film, and now we
have reached year 2001 it is interesting to reflect
on the science in this fiction.
Below, I list just a few of the ideas that could
be developed after reading the story or seeing the
film of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Propulsion system: Newtons third law. Ion
drives. Newtons third law is invoked to
propel a spacecraft in 2001 by using emission
of an ion beam. This method was used in 1998
in the launch of the space probe Deep Space
One.
To understand the acceleration of the
spacecraft, Newtons second law is needed.
Energy supply for spacecraft could be
discussed: nuclear, fuel cells and solar panels.
Problems with solar panelsinverse square
law on reaching Jupiter, occasional eclipse
problems from Mars (possibly).
The
spacecraft Discovery which journeys to
Jupiter in the story uses nuclear power, rather
than relying on energy from the Sun.
Problems with human travel: long time;
speeds not large; cannot go faster than light.
0031-9120/01/030193+09$30.00

Time delays when communicating with Earth.

In chapter 9 of the novel, Clarke describes
the time delay in signals travelling from
Discovery to Earth taking over 50 minutes at
the speed of light.
Parking orbit. In the novel (though not
the film) the spacecraft Discovery enters a
parking orbit around Saturn.
Gravitational slingshot. In the book (though
not the film), the spacecraft Discovery uses
the gravitational pull of Jupiter to deflect its
trajectory and send it on to Saturn. In this
slingshot, the gravity is not only used to
deflect the spacecraft; the spacecraft receives
some of the kinetic energy of the planet
as well. The planets orbital speed is not
noticeably affected as it has such a large mass
compared with that of the spacecraft. The
Voyager unmanned spacecraft of NASA used
the same technique in the 1980s.
Artificial gravity: Einsteins Principle of
Equivalence; rotational motion and centripetal force.
In this article I will discuss just one of these
subjects: the depiction of artificial gravity.
This is one of the most talked-about pieces of
technological fiction; here I describe how the topic
can be taught in a series of simple stages.

2001 IOP Publishing Ltd

PHYSICS EDUCATION

193

N Fisher

Figure 1.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.
Figure 2.

Apparent weightlessness
Imagine a scientist is in a box falling towards the
centre of Earth in free fall (figure 1). (This could be
in an elevator when the cable has snapped, holding
a ball as you jump off a diving platform or in an
orbiting spacecraft.)
If the scientist releases an apple (figure 2), it
will not fall to the floor of the box because both
the box and the apple have the same downwards
acceleration.
To the scientist, it appears that gravity has
been switched off. As long as he is accelerating at
the same rate as the box and apple he will not be
able to tell if he is in free fall or if gravity has just
disappeared. He will also not sense his weight
because the sensation of weight comes from the
floor pushing up on him: as he and the floor are
falling at the same rate, the floor does not push on
him.

Accelerating in zero gravity

Imagine he is now in a spacecraft in deep space
where there is no gravity and the spacecraft is
accelerating in a straight line (figure 3).
If the apple is released it no longer accelerates,
so the floor moves up and hits it. From the
194

PHYSICS EDUCATION

scientists perspective the apple falls to the floor.

As soon as it hits the floor (or the floor hits the
apple), the floor will then start to push the apple
(figure 4).
If the scientist measures the acceleration
relative to the floor as the apple falls, it will be
the same as the spacecrafts acceleration.
Ideas similar to the free-fall box and the
accelerating spacecraft led Einstein to develop
his General Theory of Relativity. As part of this,
Einsteins Principle of Equivalence states that we
cannot distinguish between gravitational field and
an accelerated frame of reference. Students will
appreciate that we only need to get an acceleration
of 9.81 m s2 to reproduce the effects of Earths
surface gravity.

Accelerating the spacecraft in a

straight line
Suppose you wanted to travel to a planet, enjoying
the comfort of artificial gravity mimicking that
of Earth. You might accelerate the spacecraft at
9.81 m s2 for the first half of the journey, and then
at the halfway point you would fire the rockets in
the reverse direction to decelerate the craft, giving
it an acceleration of 9.81 m s2 . During the first
half of the journey the floor of the craft would
push on your feet and accelerate your body mass
at 9.81 m s2 (figure 5). From the halfway point

Space science 2001

Artificial gravity from circular motion

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

you would need to turn yourself around and stand

on the ceiling (figure 6).
The velocitytime graph (assuming you do
not reach anywhere near the velocity of light!)
would be as in figure 7, the area underneath
representing the distance travelled to the planet.
Knowing the acceleration has to be 9.8 m s2 ,
this idea can be developed into an exercise for
pupils to work out how long it would take to reach
Jupiter from Earth (of course, the distance would
be difficult, but it might be best to assume the
journey occurs when Jupiter is closest to the Earth,
although this distance keeps changing during the
journey time).

Figure 7.

2001: A Space Odyssey describes three artificial

gravity environments, all using rotating bodies:
the Space Station in parking orbit around Earth
uses a huge rotating doughnut; a spinning space
lavatory; and the spacecraft Discovery en route
to Jupiter uses a small internal carousel. In the
film 2001, the astronaut Bowman is seen running
around this carousel (figure 8).
If the astronaut is rotating with the spacecraft,
the centripetal force from the floor pushes the
astronaut towards the centre of the circular motion.
All three astronauts in the diagram feel the
right way up because they are being accelerated
towards the centre of the circle, which for them is
up.
In chapter 8 of his novel, Clarke describes the
problems in docking with a rotating Space Station
[1, p 48]. The central axis of the Space Station
rotates in reverse at a rate that exactly counters the
Space Stations rotation. This enabled a visiting
craft to couple to it without getting spun around
dangerously. The visiting astronaut then has to
enter a chamber that starts to rotate. He holds on
to handles on the walls of the rotating room until
it equals the angular velocity of the Space Station.
He then has to move outwards towards the outer
part of the Station, where the centripetal force
increases. This is because, although his angular
speed will be the same, the radius r is increasing,
thus increasing the centripetal acceleration.
The latter point illustrates one of the problems
with artificial gravity created by rotating bodies
the gravity varies along the radius. It turns out (no
pun intended!) that the radius needs to be very large
to reduce the effects of small changes in radial
position.

Figure 8.
PHYSICS EDUCATION

195

N Fisher

(c) Movement changes the gravity

Moving around in the rotating carousel will
produce changes in the artificial gravity because
it changes the rotational speed of the astronaut.
There will be extra components of the acceleration,
described by the Coriolis Effect.

(d) Free fall is different

Figure 9.

Problems with a rotating space carousel

(a) Gravity varies by floor
A rotating space hotel with more than one floor
would have a smaller value for artificial gravity
for the higher floors which are nearer the axis of
rotation. To reduce this problem, the radius of
rotation needs to be very large so that changes in
floor levels are a small percentage of the overall
radius. For example, to get a 1% difference for an
astronaut 2 m tall, the radius of the carousel will
need to be 200 m (figure 9).
(b) Different gravity for your head and feet
This is because an astronauts head will be closer
to the axis of rotation and thus have a smaller
radius of rotation. To reduce this differential
acceleration, the radius of the carousel again needs
to be very large compared with the height of the
astronaut.

An apple released from rest on Earth will fall

straight to the ground, pulled constantly with
an acceleration due to the gravitational field.
(However, this is only true within a certain region;
if you go to the equator or a significant distance
away from the centre of the Earth, e.g. 104 km, this
will not be true.)
However, an apple released from the hand of
an astronaut in a rotating carousel, will appear to
fall behind the feet of the astronaut in a retrograde
direction, as if propelled by a sideways force in the
direction opposite to the rotation (figure 10).
As soon as the apple is released, it moves at
a tangent to the circle with constant velocity. The
astronaut, however, moves at the same speed, but
his velocity components in the x and y directions
are changing. The net result is that his feet,
which are travelling faster, get ahead of the point
where the apple lands (see diagram (figure 10) and
calculation below).
To reduce this effect, it turns out that the
angular velocity has no effect, but that a larger
radius (or shorter astronaut!) is beneficial (see
calculation below).

Figure 10.

196

PHYSICS EDUCATION

Space science 2001

(e) Motion sickness

Large angular velocities can lead to motion
sickness. In the 1960s, the US Naval School
of Aviation Medicine did a series of experiments
where people lived in a rotating room for six weeks
[2].
They found that, to avoid motion sickness, 2.0
revs per minute was the maximum for most people
to endure for long periods. This gives an angular
velocity of 0.21 rad s1 .
(f) Large spacecraft necessary
The best course of action to overcome problems
(a)(e) above is to produce a rotating craft that
has a large rotation radius. This in itself poses
problems as the object turns out to be enormous.
To produce an acceleration of 9.81 m s2 with a
maximum angular velocity of 0.21 rad s1 gives
the following radius:

where L is the length of the tether cable, Msc is

the mass of the spacecraft, Mr is the mass of the
discarded rocket stage and r is the radius of the
spacecraft orbit. Therefore
Msc r = Mr L rMr


Msc
+1 .
Mr
Thus, to keep L as small as possible, the mass,
Mr , of the discarded rocket stage needs to be as
large as possible compared with the mass of the
spacecraft. For further details see [2].
so

L=r

Quantitative approaches

r = a/2
= 9.81/0.21

needs to be longer than 220 m because 220 m is

the distance, r, from the spacecraft to the axis of
rotation, which will be the centre of mass of the
system.
Msc r = Mr (L r)

= 220 m.
In his book Rendezvous with Rama (written
after 2001: A Space Odyssey) Clarke suggests
using two space capsules tethered by a cable of
suitable length and set spinning by momentarily
using jets thrusting in opposite directions to get
the required angular velocity.
In 1923, Hermann Oberth suggested something similar. One of the suggestions for a manned
mission to Mars involves using a similar technique
(see figure 11) [2].
The spacecraft could be connected to a
discarded rocket stage.
This will act as a
counterweight. The length, L, of the tether cable

A simple descriptive approach may be all that

the students have time to enjoy.
However,
there is much more to be gained by doing
some algebra and calculations based around some
simple estimations and data.
Calculations on the rotating Space Station in
2001
As shown earlier, the Space Station in 2001
(orbiting the Earth to the music of The Blue
Danube) would need to have a radius of 220 m to
reproduce artificial Earth gravity without motion
sickness.
If the astronaut is standing on the rotating floor
and has the same angular velocity as the floor, the
size of the artificial gravitational acceleration, a,
is given by
a = 2 r
where is the angular velocity in rad s1 .
Gravity differential between head and feet
For an astronaut of height h, his head is closer
to the axis of rotation and has a smaller radius of
rotation, (r h). The ratio of head acceleration to
foot acceleration is given by
2 (r h)
ahead
=
afoot
2 r

Figure 11.

r h
.
r

PHYSICS EDUCATION

197

N Fisher

Figure 12.

For a height h = 2 m
220 2
ahead
=
afoot
220
= 99%.
This 1% difference would be tolerable (figure 12).
The effect of moving in the spacecraft
In the film 2001, astronaut Bowman is shown
running around a rotating space carousel. If vr
is the rim velocity of the rotating carousel and
vt the velocity of the astronaut at the rim in the
direction of vr , then the radial acceleration towards
the centre (figure 13) is given by
a = (vr + vt )2 /r.
If the astronaut walked in the opposite
direction to the rotation of the carousel, a minus
sign would be needed (figure 14):
a = (vr vt )2 /r.
So, if the rim speed of the carousel, vr , is small
enough it is possible for the astronaut to cancel out

Figure 14.

the artificial gravity. Thus, the artificial gravity is

constantly being distorted as the astronaut moves
about within the spacecraft. To reduce this effect,
the rim speed needs to be much faster than he could
walk or run (i.e. much faster than 10 m s1 ). To
increase this rim speed, two things can be changed:
an increase of the angular velocity
and/or an increase of the radius of rotation.
The rim speed of the carousel would be
vr = r
= 0.21 220
= 46 m s1
If he ran at 10 m s1 against the direction of
rotation:
a = (vr vt )2 /r
= (46 10)2 /220
= 5.9 m s2 .
He would thus feel about half as heavy. If he ran
at 10 m s1 in the direction of rotation,
a = (vr + vt )2 /r
= (46 + 10)2 /220
= 14 m s2 .
He would thus feel a little heavier.

Figure 13.
198

PHYSICS EDUCATION

Free-fall behaviour of an apple

An apple released from the astronauts hand in this
large-radius carousel will land almost below his

Space science 2001

so
x2 = r 2 y2.
But the y position of the apple is given by y =
(r h). Thus
y 2 = (r h)2 .
This gives

r 2 (r h)2

= 2rh h2 .

x=

Figure 15.

feet and will be very similar to the behaviour on

Earth. The following calculation illustrates this.
Imagine that an astronaut of height h releases
an apple from head height (figure 15). The apple
will have a tangential velocity given by
vapple = (r h).
It will keep moving in a straight line with this
velocity as there are now no forces acting on it
(Newton 1).
What distance does this apple travel horizontally before hitting the floor (i.e. before hitting the
circumference of the circle)? To answer this, imagine the circle centred at the origin of an xy coordinate frame (figure 16).
The equation of a circle is

Thus
x=


h(2r h).

Inserting r = 220 m and h = 2 m, the x coordinate

for the apple is then x = 30 m (figure 17).
What time does it take for the apple to hit the
floor?
t = x/vapple
But, the apple is travelling slower than the feet at
the moment of release:
vapple = (r h).
Thus, the time is

h(2r h)
t=
.
(r h)

x2 + y2 = r 2

What angle does the spacecraft rotate through

in this time? In this time, the spacecraft has rotated
by an angle = t. So

h(2r h)
=
.
(r h)

Figure 16.

Figure 17.
PHYSICS EDUCATION

199

N Fisher

Thus the angle is

h(2r h)
.
r h

What is the new horizontal position of the feet

of the astronaut? The horizontal component of
distance of the astronauts feet is given by
x = r sin

h(2r h)
.
= r sin
r h

The Moons gravitational field at the surface gives

an acceleration of 1.7 m s2 , so Clarkes data is of
the right order of magnitude.
Gravity differential between head and feet
There will be a significant difference in
acceleration between head and feet in the
Discovery craft:
r h
ahead
=
.
afoot
r

Inserting the numbers r = 220 m and h = 2 m,

this gives the x coordinate of his feet as

For h = 2 m and r = 5.3 m, head and feet in the

Discovery craft:

x = 30 m.

5.3 2
ahead
=
= 62%.
afoot
5.3

This means that the apple appears to fall straight

down to the astronauts feet, i.e. motion under this
artificial gravity is the same as in normal gravity.
However, this is not the case if the radius of the
rotating carousel is smaller. This is the case with
the spacecraft Discovery in the 2001 story (see
later calculation).

Calculations for the 2001 space ship

Discovery (en route for Jupiter and
Saturn)
When travelling to Jupiter, the space ship
Discovery had a special section with a slowly
rotating drum to produce an artificial gravity
roughly equal to that of the Moon rather than
Earth. The dimensions and rotating period of this
spinning carousel are given in chapter 17 of the
book [1, p 99]:
One revolution in 10 seconds.
Diameter 35 feet.
So:

= 2/T
= 2/10
= 0.63 rad s1

With the conversion 1 foot = 0.305 m,

r=

1
2

35 0.305 = 5.3 m.

Therefore the centripetal acceleration is

a = 2 r
= 0.632 5.3
= 2.1 m s2 .
200

PHYSICS EDUCATION

This would be more noticeable than the 1%

difference in the larger-radius Space Station.
There is another problem. The angular
velocity of 0.63 rad s1 is too large for comfort.
As stated earlier, the US Naval School of Aviation
Medicine found that, to avoid motion sickness, 2.0
revolutions per minute was the maximum for most
people to endure for long periods. This gives the
angular velocity of 0.21 rad s1 . This is quite
a significant reduction (almost 1/3 of the value
quoted by Clarke). To get the same centripetal
acceleration as before, the radius of rotation would
need to increase by 32 (i.e. be almost ten times
bigger).
r = 2.1/0.212 = 48 m.
Astronauts moving around produce gravity
differentials
The rim speed, vr , is given by
vr = r
= 0.63 5.3
= 3.3 m s1 .
Therefore, he could easily walk/jog briskly at
3 m s1 to cancel out the artificial gravity.
Free fall of an apple
There would be a significant difference in the free
fall of an apple compared to the free fall on Earth.
The apple would appear to have been propelled
against the direction of rotation, as the astronauts
feet would overtake the apple (figure 18).

Space science 2001

Figure 18.

For the apple, the distance moved in the x

direction is given by

x = h(2r h).
Inserting r = 5.3 m and h = 2 m, the x coordinate
for the apple is then x = 4.1 m.
In the time taken for the apple to hit the floor,
the spacecraft has rotated by an angle :

h(2r h)
=
.
r h
The new horizontal component of distance of the
astronauts feet is given by
x = r sin

h(2r h)
.
= r sin
r h
Inserting the numbers r = 5.3 m and h = 2 m
gives
x = 5.0 m.
The distance moved in the y direction is
y = r(1 cos ) = 3.7 m.
Thus, as the astronauts feet rotate around with
the carousel, the feet sweep underneath the apple
and overtake it. The apple lands to one side
of the astronauts feet in a retrograde position
(figure 19).

Figure 19.

Acknowledgments
The author is grateful to James McMenemey for
initial proofreading and the Rugby Natural History
Society.
Received 14 March 2001
PII: S0031-9120(01)23209-2

References
[1] Clarke A C 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
(London: Arrow)
[2] http://www.marsacedemy.com/artg1.htm

Conclusion
There are a lot of untapped resources in good
science fiction. The above calculations could be
adapted to form a series of questions for a class
who are studying centripetal acceleration.

Nick Fisher has been Head of Science at Rugby School for

seven years. He is an A-level examiner, a member of the
writing team for SaltersHorners Advanced Physics and
serves on the preparatory subcommittee approving GCSE
examinations.

PHYSICS EDUCATION

201